<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Don't stop it
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->'Banning proselytisation will be detrimental to harmony.'
MS CHAN LAI GWEN: 'It is inevitable that a multi-religious society will see a spike in religious activity spurred by spiritual fervour. Proselytisation, or evangelism, in its mildest form will occur naturally. So banning it is impossible unless one views it as seditious and is quick to invoke the law. Such a measure will be detrimental to racial and religious harmony. We should accept and embrace an exchange of religious ideas and end the discussion amicably if disagreements arise.'
Evangelism
'Each individual has a right to propagate his belief within reasonable limits.'
MADAM YEO MENG ENG: 'Mr Harvey Neo's letter on Tuesday ('Timely reminder') objects to Christian teachers, nurses and doctors who proselytise. While we must be mindful of causing undue offence, each individual has a constitutional right to freedom of religion, and to profess, practise and propagate his belief within reasonable limits. A more nuanced approach is not to eliminate all forms of religious values in the public sphere, but to decide what is appropriate.'
So what's changed?
'When I was a teenager, my classmates criticised my Catholicism. Recently, my teenage son was similarly criticised.'
MS JENNIFER WEE: 'When I was a teenager in the 1980s, I was traumatised when Christian classmates at Anglican High School criticised my Catholicism, labelled my belief satanic and showed me literature for good measure. I am sceptical if such evangelism has stopped. Recently, my teenage son was similarly criticised for his Catholic beliefs. There must be something wrong with the view that it is all right to evangelise as not everyone is easily offended. Well, if there is a chance that someone may be religiously offended, then it shouldn't be said.'
Greatest threat
'Proselytisation is most dangerous at workplaces where superiors try to impose their beliefs on subordinates.'
MR WILLIAM TAY: 'As a student of St Joseph's Institution in the 1960s, we had prayers in class and Bible Knowledge as a subject. But the LaSalle brothers who ran the school did not proselytise Catholicism to me. My work experience tells me proselytisation is most dangerous at workplaces where superiors try to impose their religious beliefs on their subordinates. It is also sad, as PM Lee noted, that some children stay away from their parents' funeral because they believe the traditional rites are against their new religion.'
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->'Banning proselytisation will be detrimental to harmony.'
MS CHAN LAI GWEN: 'It is inevitable that a multi-religious society will see a spike in religious activity spurred by spiritual fervour. Proselytisation, or evangelism, in its mildest form will occur naturally. So banning it is impossible unless one views it as seditious and is quick to invoke the law. Such a measure will be detrimental to racial and religious harmony. We should accept and embrace an exchange of religious ideas and end the discussion amicably if disagreements arise.'
Evangelism
'Each individual has a right to propagate his belief within reasonable limits.'
MADAM YEO MENG ENG: 'Mr Harvey Neo's letter on Tuesday ('Timely reminder') objects to Christian teachers, nurses and doctors who proselytise. While we must be mindful of causing undue offence, each individual has a constitutional right to freedom of religion, and to profess, practise and propagate his belief within reasonable limits. A more nuanced approach is not to eliminate all forms of religious values in the public sphere, but to decide what is appropriate.'
So what's changed?
'When I was a teenager, my classmates criticised my Catholicism. Recently, my teenage son was similarly criticised.'
MS JENNIFER WEE: 'When I was a teenager in the 1980s, I was traumatised when Christian classmates at Anglican High School criticised my Catholicism, labelled my belief satanic and showed me literature for good measure. I am sceptical if such evangelism has stopped. Recently, my teenage son was similarly criticised for his Catholic beliefs. There must be something wrong with the view that it is all right to evangelise as not everyone is easily offended. Well, if there is a chance that someone may be religiously offended, then it shouldn't be said.'
Greatest threat
'Proselytisation is most dangerous at workplaces where superiors try to impose their beliefs on subordinates.'
MR WILLIAM TAY: 'As a student of St Joseph's Institution in the 1960s, we had prayers in class and Bible Knowledge as a subject. But the LaSalle brothers who ran the school did not proselytise Catholicism to me. My work experience tells me proselytisation is most dangerous at workplaces where superiors try to impose their religious beliefs on their subordinates. It is also sad, as PM Lee noted, that some children stay away from their parents' funeral because they believe the traditional rites are against their new religion.'
